Brief Moments in Time
by Amelda Marcos
Summary: Moments between Gale and Madge. A series of one-shots, mostly AU. Gadge.
1. Soldier and Spy

Author's Note: Hunger Games is not in any way my intellectual property.

_Not very in character for Gale, let's pretend he's mellowed since the rebellion _

Gale was almost to his new flat in District 2 when he saw a flash of blonde reflected in the shop window he was passing. He stopped and turned to the window, searching the reflection for the blonde haired person he'd just caught a glimpse of. There, across the street standing still in front of another window, mirror to him, stood a young woman, curly blonde hair, just about _her_ height. Gale would have kept on walking, he was seeing Madge's ghost in ever person now, had the woman not turned her head to stare directly at him. That was enough to set his soldier senses on fire.

Without pausing, Gale whipped around and charged across the street. There was Madge Undersee, staring resignedly at him.

He halted a handbreadth away from her. "Madge," it came out as a hoarse whisper.

"Gale," she responded, then sighed. "I suppose you want to know how I'm here. Let's talk at your flat." With that she took his elbow and guided him without direction to his apartment.

Once there, Gale let them in then turned to face Madge once again. "How are you here Undersee? They found three bodies at your house!" Gale could feel a mix of emotions building up inside him. Happiness that she was alive, anger at himself for not thinking to look for her, and anger at her for not telling anyone she had once been close to that she had survived.

Madge walked around his small two-room apartment, filling up glasses of water for them and fluffing the pillows on the couch before she settled down. After handing one glass to him, she began her story. "You know how the Mayor was obligated to host Capitol citizens throughout the year? Apparently one of them insisted that I was too beautiful to be destroyed in the bombing. They came the night before and just took me out of my bed, without even telling my parents. I imagine the third body you found was my mother's nurse." She turned to look at him, "What else would you like to know?"

Gale processed that information. The story also sounded just like something a Capitol citizen would do, insisting on saving a beautiful object. That made him stiffen up. He remembered Finnick talking about what they forced the good looking victors to do. Would they have had the same plan for Madge? He felt a surge of protection for her.

"So," he asked gruffly, "Did they make repay the saving of your life in some way? Or did they just let you live in the lap of luxury throughout the whole uprising?"

Madge glared at him. "Well actually Gale, I was able to convince Snow that I would be of greater use to him in other ways. I told Snow that my father had been part of the rebellion and that I could convince them I wanted to be part of the cause and was in a perfect position to do so. He fell for it. In actuality I had been the one working for the rebellion from the beginning. Haymitch had gotten me involved when we were helping Katniss and Peeta prepare for the second games. I acted as a triple agent I guess, feeding Snow mostly false rebel information and District 13 real information." She shrugged and added with a sigh, "It was surprisingly easy to deceive Snow, he was so sure that having come from the richest family in District 12 I would be all for the comforts offered by the Capitol. Just like what you always seemed to think of me."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd sell us out to the Capitol! Just that you didn't understand what it was like in the Seam." Gale retorted angrily. "Yes, I thought you were spoiled, that you didn't understand what it was like for my family. But I never, never would have thought that of you!" He finished, his chest heaving with repressed emotions. How could she have thought that about him? A small part of his brain decided now was the time to remind him of all the less than chivalrous ways he'd treated her. Maybe she wasn't so far off.

Madge gently placed her hand on his shoulder, as if trying to calm a wild animal. He felt a warmth traveling through his body from where she was touching him.

"I'm sorry Gale, I shouldn't have said that. I just get angry sometimes at how little people think of me, not realizing that I too have helped in the war. Most people I pass on the street just think I'm a pretty face, I guess I'm tired of being underestimated." She paused, he was staring at her oddly. "Gale?"

Things had started falling in place for Gale. "Madge," he asked gently, "Were you Phoenix?" He watched her face, hoping he was wrong. They had gotten some of their best intelligence from Phoenix, but he knew that much of that information had been gained through very dangerous means. The stories that had been passed around were not things he wanted to associate with Madge. It would also mean she'd saved him so many times and he hadn't known.

She smiled sadly at him. "Yes Gale, that was me."

Before either of them really knew what had happened, Gale had leaned forward and enveloped Madge in a hug. He pressed her to himself, trying to take in that the time he thought he'd lost her had actually been only one time in many, and the least dangerous of all. He hadn't really known until the day of the bombing how much Madge Undersee had meant to him. Slowly he began to realize that she was shaking in his arms and that there was a wet spot forming on his shoulder where her face was pressed against him.

He pulled back and grabbed a tissue to wipe the tears off her face. "Madge, what are you doing now? Why were you following me?"

She grabbed the tissue and continued blotting her tears. "Right now I'm relegated to paperwork, documenting all the intelligence I collected. I'm trying to figure out what to do after that. A few weeks back I contacted Peeta. He's worried about you, knows that you and Katniss aren't talking. When he found out we were in the same district, he asked if I'd check up on you."

Twisting the end of the tissue, she directed her gaze at him again. "I wasn't sure how you'd feel about seeing me and I couldn't work up my courage to actually do it. So I just followed you." She laughed, "I had enough courage to last me the rebellion and then there was none left to talk to an old friend."

She looked at him hopefully when she called him a friend. Gale felt saddened that she'd need reassurance of this fact. "Well, bread boy was always too concerned about others for his own good, but I'm glad he sent you to look after me." He gazed down at her, noting that she was smiling again. It never took much to get Madge Undersee to smile. He had just been supremely good at getting her to frown, but now he wanted to change that.

"Undersee," he cleared his throat, noting her face clouded over somewhat at his use of her surname. He started again, "Madge, I'd like it if you kept checking up after me. I'd also like it if you would let me check up on you. Maybe we could start with dinner tonight?"

He watched her, nervous that he'd messed up something that had just started forming. His fears were quickly proven to be pointless as she gave him a brilliant smiled and leaned forward to place a kiss on his cheek.

"I'd love that Gale."

He growled, "Madge you can't just do that to a guy. He can't control himself if a girl like you acts like that." That was all the warming he gave her before leaning down and capturing her lips with his own. Kissing Madge was much different and much better than kissing Katniss. There was no hesitancy, she responded right away, and she seemed filled with as much desire as he.

Finally pulling back she said, "I saw some noodles and pasta sauce in your cupboard. How about we stay here for dinner?"

Gale smirked at her and pulled her close again, "I think that's a perfect idea."


	2. The Shower Incident

Author's Note: I don't own any of the rights to Hunger Games.

* * *

She supposes there's some type of irony in it. A mere 3 weeks after what she calls 'The Toilet Debacle', when all the guys' toilets had mysteriously been out of order and they'd had to share with the girls, none of the girls showers are draining and have been closed for major plumbing renovations. Apparently the architect hadn't accounted for the fact that girls shed a lot more than guys, and generally have longer hair, leading to giant hair clogs. As a consequence, the only functioning showers in the C building were in the guys' area. Thankfully, to avoid 'inappropriate mixing', the administration had allotted specific times for each gender to shower. There was just enough time for Madge take a shower before the girls' time was up.

Madge hurried into her dorm room, threw her bag down onto her bed, and pulled off her tennis shoes. Slipping into her flip-flops and grabbing hold of her neatly piled shower things, she shuffled out the door towards the showers. When she reached the door connecting the two sections of the C building, she slowly pulled it open and peaked through. The hall was empty. Madge scampered down the hall and ran into the shower area of the bathroom.

She had made two miscalculations when deciding she had enough time to shower. One, she'd forgotten how relaxing a nice hot shower following a workout is and lost track of time and, two, that no one else followed the time allotments as strictly as she did. It was five minutes to 6 pm, five more of _her_ minutes, when a portion of what sounded to be the male soccer team trouped into the showers. Madge thanked all the deities above that the showers weren't communal. She then stood quietly under the hot water and hoped no one would notice or care that one shower had been occupied when they all came in and that the occupant wasn't leaving it. They couldn't take too long after all, she figured guys were generally less careful about hygiene and they must be starving after practice and want to get to dinner quickly.

It was only when she heard Gale's name mentioned that she started listening in on their conversation.

"Hey Gale, how's that head doing? That was a nice header you managed to pull off, I got the feeling though it was completely unintentional," she heard Finnick, the team captain, asking.

"It's probably still in the clouds, you saw how he was practically drooling as he watched her leave the athletic center."

"Shut it Mellark." Madge could imagine the look on Gale's face. It was probably along the lines of mock anger.

Gale had started softening up with regards to Peeta, she thought it had something to do with some amazing pass Peeta had made to Gale, setting Gale up for a goal to win one of the big matches earlier in the season. Much to her and Katniss's chagrin, they never stopped talking about it. She was thankful for the newly formed friendship as it made hanging out with Katniss, Peeta, and Gale more comfortable. It also meant though that Gale hung out with them more. Previously, it had mostly been Madge with the two love birds and every once in a while Katniss would go hang out with the gruff Gale on her own. Now Madge had to put up with Gale's grunting form of conversation when Katniss and Peeta got all gushy. Thankfully, neither was too inclined toward PDA and so she didn't have to get through many conversations with Gale alone.

"You'd better make your move soon" one of the other team members said.

"Yeah, coach almost made us run another set of laps because of you."

"It's nothing," came Gale's voice again.

"That was not nothing," Finnick again, with his I'm the all knowledgable, too handsome for my own good voice. "I thought it looked very much like how I used to stare after Annie before she acknowledged my existence."

This started all the guys going on about the wonderful attributes of their respective girlfriends. Madge cringed, she definitely did not want all this information, but she had been hoping someone would name the girl Gale had been eyeing up. She usually didn't associate him with romantic feelings, it led to no good.

The guys were taking longer to shower than she'd anticipated. She was going to be late for her date if they kept talking for too much longer. Katniss had set her up on a blind date. Normally Madge wouldn't have agreed to go. The only reason she had was that Katniss insisted Madge would really like the guy and that he'd been trying to work up his nerve to ask her out for ages. Madge wasn't sure how she felt about that. Sure, it was nice to know some guy had liked you for a while, but what type of person was he that he hadn't been able to figure out a way to tell her on his own? What type of guy needed _Katniss's_ help wooing a girl? Peeta had practically had to do a school wide announcement before Katniss had realized he was asking her out on a date.

Finally, people started leaving. Madge turned off her shower, dried off, and began dressing so she'd be ready for her escape when the chance came. As the room quieted, Madge was able to catch part of a conversation between Gale and Peeta.

"Don't you need to be heading out? She's going to be waiting and she hates it when people are late."

Gale chuckled, a noise Madge very rarely heard him make and had finally admitted to herself that she rather liked. "I don't think you need to worry about that. I have a feeling that she's going to be late too."

"Hawthorne, you've got to be kidding yourself. She's never late, never."

Madge frowned to herself. Who was this girl they were talking about? She didn't like to sound of it. If Gale got a girlfriend it would mess up the group dynamic. She'd be the fifth wheel, if that was even a thing. No, Gale and all this girl talk did not sit well with her.

"Trust me lover boy. You probably have more to worry about than me, Katniss doesn't like to be kept waiting either."

"You've got me there. I'd better go before she starts planning a squirrel dinner as punishment."

Madge heard the patter of feet and then the bathroom door opening and closing. The room now seemed entirely quiet to her. She decided to count to 100 before leaving the shelter of the stall, in case there was some really quiet guy still there. She had no desire to see a naked man-boy today.

She'd gotten up to 30 when a voice interrupted her counting.

"Coast is clear Undersee."

She groaned, then stuck her head out past the shower curtain and peered around to make sure Gale wasn't lying to her before emerging completely. She was greeted with the sight of a well-toned Gale, thankfully wearing shorts, with his towel draped over his shoulder. She took in the way his wet hair was mussed up and adorable looking, that is, until she saw the smirk on his face.

"Pretty dress. It's not often I see someone getting out of the shower wearing one."

She scowled at him, "You mean except when you see yourself in the mirror?"

He looked surprised then started laughing. "Wow Undersee. I wouldn't expected that from you."

"How did you know I as in the shower?"

"Not many guys, or girls for that matter, that I know wear pink flip-flops with daisy's on them."

He was looking at her with amusement and it was making her uncomfortable.

"Well I've got to go. I have a date to meet." She didn't know why, but she was hoping that mentioning her date to Gale would throw him off kilter like hearing he had a date had done to her.

He grinned at her. "Why don't you wait Undersee, save him a walk?"

"Huh? You know who he is? Why would Katniss tell you?" She was not comfortable with the way he kept smiling and laughing at her. This wasn't the Gale she was used to. She didn't know how to respond to this Gale.

"Go put your shower stuff in your room then come back to my room. I've got to change quickly then I'll bring you over to him."

"Well," she said feeling haughty for some reason. "Maybe I don't want to meet him anymore. If he's not at the meeting place yet then he must be late and I don't like it when people are late."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom. "Speak for yourself Undersee."

She didn't know why, but she followed Gale's directions. She dropped her stuff off in her room and checked in her mirror that her hair was done nicely. After slipping into a pair of flats, she locked her door and walked back through to the guy's floor and knocked on Gale's door.

After a few moments, the door opened, revealing a very nicely dressed but uncomfortable looking Gale. He was wearing nice khakis and a button up shirt, buttoned all the way up. His hair was combed and parted off to one side. He pulled the door shut behind him and locked it.

Clearing his throat, he looked at her, seeming unsure of himself. All in a rush he said, "Madge, I'm your date. I've liked you and Katniss were roommates freshman year. She finally got sick and tired of me mopping around and told me to do something about it. So here we are." He rubbed the back of his neck, then continued, "If you're completely disgusted with that idea, we can just scrap the date or go somewhere as friends. No pressure."

She could feel her mouth forming a smile and a bubble of happiness filling up inside her. "I would love to go on a date with you. Next time though, make sure you're on time," she jokingly scolded.

"Same goes for you," he grinned. "Where to then?"

"Anywhere, but first let's get you sorted out a little." He looked down at her, confused.

Madge stood on her toes to bring herself up closer to his level and ran her fingers through his hair, messing it slightly. She hadn't realized until that moment how long she'd wanted to do that. Then she unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.

"There. Much better."

"My turn now, right?" Gale asked, once again smirking at her.

She laughed and hooked her arm with his, starting to pull them down the hallway. "Not this time sir. We need to go on a few dates first."

"A few dates? Well, I'll try and hold out for that then." He leaned down and kissed Madge's cheek. She could feel herself glowing with pleasure.

* * *

I was going to write about 'The Toilet Debacle' but it just wasn't flowing. Maybe one day we'll find out exactly what it was.


	3. Middle Names

Author's Note: Hunger Games does not belong to me. I just play with the characters sometimes.

* * *

As usual, Madge was the first one to arrive. She, Katniss, Peeta, and Gale had decided to go to the Classics Movie Night at the nearby dollar theater. The theater had been making its way through the Mel Brooks films and tonight they were playing Robin Hood: Men in Tights, one of her favorites. She knew she and Peeta were the only ones actually looking forward to it. She supposed that Katniss was dragging Gale along with the idea that misery wants company. The two of them, Madge and Peeta, had insisted that Katniss and Gale prep for the movie by first watching the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood. She was really hoping they reacted better to this movie than they had after that had been done.

The door to the theater opened and she saw Gale walk in.

"Undersee."

"Hawthorne."

Gale snorted. "Really, that's what you're calling me now?"

"Well you've called me Undersee for the entirety of our acquaintance. I don't see why I shouldn't call you by your last name, Gale."

He laughed, "See, you can't do it."

She harrumphed. "Fine. I'll stick to Gale. Being rude isn't something I'm used to."

"You find it rude that I call you by your last name? I think I call everyone by their last name, except for my family."

"And Katniss." When they'd first met, this had rankled her to no end. She realized that Gale and Katniss had practically known each other out of the cradle, but why did she get relegated to a grunt and a surname?

"Exactly. Family."

"Well there are many Undersee's and only one Madge. So I like going by Madge."

"I'm pretty sure there are more Margret's out there than Undersee's. And you probably aren't the only Margret Undersee at that."

Madge scowled up at Gale. Why was he always so difficult?

"I'll have you know that I'm not a Margret. I'm legally Madge. And even if there are other Madge Undersee's, there is no way there are other Madge Freya Undersee."

"Woah, way to be complicated. Well, Legally Madge Freya Undersee, if it really means that much to you, I'll start calling you Madge."

She nodded and they stood for a minute or so in silence.

"So, Madge, what do you think is taking the love birds so long? Katniss is usually pretty good at being on time."

Startled to actually hear her first name in Gale's voice, it took Madge a moment to answer. It certainly had a different quality to it, said in his deep voice.

"She was muttering something about her car making funny noises earlier this week, maybe it broke down on the way here."

"Ugh, they took that dump when Mellark has a real car?"

She shrugged, "Katniss likes to drive."

"I know. I've put my life at risk a few times riding with her. I don't know how Mellark can do it.

Madge smiled, "He really thinks that she can't do anything wrong. He probably thinks he's color blind and all those red lights she runs are really green."

Gale laughed, a nice booming laugh that sent tingles up Madge's sides.

"Yes, You're probably right." He paused a moment, then asked, "Did you walk here? I can walk back with you."

"Oh," Madge said, not used to interacting with a Gale so talkative and interested in her wellbeing, "Well I biked actually. But if you're worried, I can walk with you for your protection." She grinned at him, hoping to get another laugh and wasn't disappointed.

"I'm sure all the muggers find you very daunting in your fancy cardigan and sparkling shoes."

"Why yes, they do actually! Do you realize how much it would tarnish their reputation if they were seen covered in glitter? That's what would happen if they got anywhere near these shoes, they get glitter everywhere."

Gale looked down at her feet incredulously and shuffled away. "I rescind my request for protection. I also don't want to be covered in glitter. I'll take the muggers any day."

"Hey guys, we're here!" They heard a breathless Peeta calling. Turning around, Madge saw Peeta running at them full speed, with Katniss following behind at a sedate pace.

"Have we missed the previews?" Peeta asked, looking and sounding very worried.

Madge grinned, "I hope not, otherwise I'm not forgiving either of you."

Katniss groaned, "What is it with you two and previews? You can go watch trailers online whenever you want. Plus this is an old movie. It probably has old previews."

"Well let's get seats." Peeta grabbed Katniss's arm and began dragging her along to the theater. Madge grinned at Gale then followed behind the two.

Throughout the movie Madge was extremely aware of Gale's presence next to her. He practically radiated heat. It was made even more disconcerting since throughout the movie he'd lean over and ask her some question or make a comment about the movie. He leaned in so close to her that each time she could feel his breath, warm on her cheek. She was glad for the darkness, so he couldn't see her blush.

After the movie got out, she and Peeta gushed over it for a few minutes while Katniss and Gale stood by, shaking their heads. Finally Katniss must have had enough movie talk and she grabbed Peeta's arm, preparing to use force if necessary to remove him from the theater.

"Do you guys need rides? I drove." Katniss said.

Madge looked at Gale out of the corner of her eye, trying to not grin. "Thanks for the offer Katniss, but I biked."

"Uh, and I was going to go back with Madge, make sure she's okay. You know, it being dark and everything." Gale responded quickly.

"What, you going to ride on her handlebars," Peeta joked.

Gale scowled. "Be quiet Mellark. I could probably keep up running if Madge bikes slowly."

Katniss pulled on Peeta's shirt. "Come on, let them figure this out. I thought we could stop by the ice cream shop on the way back."

The mention of ice cream was enough to distract Peeta and the four of them trouped out of the movie theater. Katniss and Peeta turned one way to the car and Madge and Gale the other to the bike.

"Are you sure you want to walk? I can stick my bike on the bus if you'd rather do that. It would be faster."

"Nah," Gale shrugged. "It's a nice night out. Let's walk. I have to give you the chance to protect my virtue after all."

The two of them walked along chatting about the movie for a few minutes. Madge was able to get Gale to admit to liking it. He also tentatively agreed to help Peeta and her convince Katniss that they should come back the next week to watch Spaceballs. She didn't mention to him this would mean watching all three original Star Wars movies first, figuring it was better to break the news slowly.

After awhile Madge remembered a question she'd thought about during the movie.

"So Gale, you know that my middle name is Freya. What's yours?"

He grimaced. "Nothing interesting."

"Come on! I told you my middle name. It's only fair that you tell me yours." She wheedled.

"I didn't ask you to tell me yours!" He growled, glaring at her. "It's none of your business."

Things had been going so well that night, she should have expected they'd have some sort of argument, but she was still taken aback by his reaction.

She focused on the sidewalk in front of her. "Sorry. I won't ask again."

Gale sighed, "Madge, stop." He put his hand on her shoulder, effectively stopping her in her tracks and turning her to face him. "I'm sorry. I just don't usually tell people my middle name, and when I do, they usually laugh."

"Well I promise not to laugh. But don't worry about it. I just thought we were sharing things, you know like normal friends do."

"You think we're friends?" he asked, looking truly startled.

Madge turned away again, blinking back tears, so much for making progress.

He turned her around to face him again. "Madge, I never even thought you'd consider me your friend. I'm honored that you would consider me for that position."

She gave a hiccup-laugh. "You make me sound like a top government official, choosing my underlings. And of course you're good enough to be my friend Gale. You have to stop selling yourself short. You are a pretty stellar guy."

He grinned like she'd just told him he'd won the jackpot. "Well then, in the name of friendship, I suppose you should know that I am Gale Fitzwilliam Hawthorne."

He looked at her, as if daring her to laugh.

Madge took a deep breath, successfully holding in the giggles trying to burst out. It was more the way he said it then the name itself, so resigned as if he's contracted some incurable disease. "Fitzwilliam? That's a good name. In my favorite book the main male protagonist's last name is Fitzwilliam. It's Persuasion by Jane Austen, you've probably never heard of it."

He groaned, "Women! That's my mom's favorite book too, that's where she got the darned name from. She read it to me as a kid. You two are going to like one another."

"Your mom? I'm meeting her?" Madge asked confused. She couldn't think of any event coming up that would involve such a thing.

Gale blanched, "Uhh, I mean, you two would like each other, if you did meet for some reason, some time." He seemed to struggle for words, unsure if he needed to say something else. "Come on. It's getting cold, let's get back to campus."

She grinned up at him but followed as he started walking again. It was obviously a bad attempt at diverting her attention but she'd let him get away with it. Hmm, he was planning on her meeting his mother. Well this was food for thought, and some pleasant thoughts at that.


	4. Persuasion-High School

Author's Note: Again, nothing Hunger Games belongs to me. This one's longer so I've broken it up into three loosely connected parts, the middle one being an Everlark interlude.

* * *

"A boy! Oh what should we name him?"

"We could name him after one of his grandfathers, Victor or Robert."

"Not my first dear, I want him to have a unique name." Hazelle Hawthorne hesitated, "Do you think we could name him Frederick? It is such a beautiful sounding name and has such command associated with it."

The father to be sighed, "Hazelle, I know Persuasion is your favorite book but I'm not subjecting him to the teasing he'd get being called Frederick. If you insist on including it, Frederick can be his middle name."

Hazelle looked at her husband, eyes twinkling. "I supposed you'd prefer something like Gale. He's sure to grow up blowing around and leaving destruction in his path with a name like that."

"Gale. Yes, now that is a good manly name. And I don't give credence to any of those name superstitions. He's going to be the best little gentle man our town has seen."

The two parents to be looked at one another, Gale's father believing his words whole-heartedly, Hazelle was realistic enough to doubt that it would be the case.

As Hazelle was tucking her eldest son into bed she said, "Gale, Miss Marlope sent home a note saying that you and Thom refused to let any of the other kids play on the slide. She said you two were playing King of the Playground."

"Well daddy always says that he's king of our house and I'm the prince. I wanna be king too! Plus the other kids don't use the slide right. Thom and I think the slide is for climbing up but they all want to slide down. And that girl Madge told me that she thinks we are supposed to share. So silly, kings don't share! They're all just burrow-cats, per-tic-llarly Madge." With that, the young Gale crossed his arms and looked defiantly at his mother.

Hazelle looked down at her small son. She was trying to keep a straight face and actually scold the boy but he certainly made it difficult.

"Burrow-cats Gale? Do you mean bureaucrats like your dad talks about? People only become bureaucrats when they get real jobs dear. Madge is a sweet and smart girl. She's right, you shouldn't control how others play on the playground, unless what they are doing is going to get themselves or others hurt."

"But the teachers get to make rules," Gale said stubbornly.

"Well the teachers are the adults and they are responsible for keeping all you kids safe and teaching you to be good citizens."

"I don't want to be a good citizen. That sounds boring. I want to be a pirate or a race car driver!" Gale grinned up at her eyes shining.

She laughed, "Alright. But if you want to be a pirate you have to know the rules first, otherwise how will you know how to break them?"

Gale's nose scrunched and his eyes partially closed as he thought about it. Hazelle took that chance to start getting up to tuck in Rory. Before she got far, Gale's small hand caught a hold of her shirt. "Will you read us a story about pirates tonight?"

"Yeth!" She heard Rory's small voice chime in from across the room. "Piwat-th!"

She looked down at his small form and mentally ran through the books they had in the house. No pirate books, looks like she was going to have to stop by the library tomorrow. She had an idea though. "Let me just tuck in your brother and then I'll start reading a book to you about a different type of pirate. He's one of your name sakes."

Gale looked up at her, "His name's Gale too! And he's a pirate?"

She chuckled and moved to tuck in Rory before grabbing a book off the bookshelf standing between the two boy's beds.

"His name is Frederick Wentworth and the book is called Persuasion by Jane Austen," Gale scowled. He thought Frederick was a silly sounding name, he wished this Jane Austen had never made it up. "And he stole the greatest treasure a person has, someone's heart." Both Gale and Rory's eyes got big and round. You could steal someone's heart? That sounded really dangerous and dashing!

Hazelle began, "_Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage_…"

"Alright class, today we are going to be breaking up into our newest sets of reading groups for discussion of the first sections of your books."

Gale groaned, he'd been hoping Mr. Gray would forget to have them do book discussion, already having done so a few times throughout the semester. People began shuffling around, pulling desks into circles or finding spots to huddle on the floor.

It was Gale's senior year of high school, his last semester actually, and somehow he'd let his mother convince him to take AP English: Literature and Language. Despite their low income, based upon her secretarial job and his work at the local repair shop after school, Hazelle insisted that her son take at least one AP class each year and take the test to go with it. He needed to get a good education, she said, get into a good college with a scholarship and then he could do whatever he wanted with his life, even if that meant becoming the pirate he'd aspired to as a young child.

Madge Undersee was also on the AP track, not that she needed a scholarship to go to college. No, for her AP classes were required to get into _The College_, her dad's alma mater. Gale still hadn't figured out which Ivy League it was, she didn't talk about it much unlike a lot of the other rich kids. Madge was a year under him in school but she'd managed to get on the fast track for math classes and english, a strange combination he thought, which meant that they'd had a few of the same classes including the current AP Lit and Lang. Katniss, who'd lived next door since he was five and she four, insisted that he watch out for Madge in all of the classes they had together. Gale had realized long ago that Madge didn't need his help, she charmed the teachers and ignored the older students who tried to give her trouble. So Gale mostly watched her from afar, hovering at the edge in case she did suddenly need a guardian angel. She was something of an enigma to him, incredibly smart and rich but never bragging about either. This meant she was something for him to strive towards but never really expect to get, which sometimes meant that he acted badly when she was around.

Now, Gale was in a group with Madge Undersee and was once again required to actually interact with her. He didn't feel quite equal to the challenge, he'd seen enough of others much smarter than him begin to squirm under her direct, clear gaze and had had enough botched interactions to be wary of more. This whole thing was Thom's fault. Gale had managed to convince Thom to take AP Lit and Lang with him just by dropping the fact that Bristol was also planning on taking the class. When Thom had suggested that they become part of the 'Persuasion' reading group he'd agreed, despite remembering his dislike of the sappy novel from when his mother read it as a bedtime story, believing Thom's insistence that he'd chosen the novel since it was the shortest option. It wasn't until the signup sheet came around that he saw the real reason, Bristol had signed up to read 'Persuasion'. Much to his surprise, Gale saw that Madge had also signed up for the book. Normally she signed up for the thickest book.

"Come on Gale, get your fat ass moving." Thom's voice broke through Gale's thoughts. Gale picked up his book, his mother's copy, not that he'd admit it just like he hadn't admitted to anyone that he knew the basics of the story already, and followed Thom to where Madge and Bristol had already situated themselves. Gale was surprised to see that it would just be the four of them. Apparently the author being Jane Austen was enough to frighten most people away.

"Hello!" Madge smiled at them. "I hope you two are enjoying the book, it's my absolute favorite!" Gale groaned inwardly, great now he was going to get to hear Madge Undersee chirp about the book for the next few weeks.

"I'm surprised you two chose this book," Bristol commented. "It didn't happen to be because it was the shortest one on the list, hmm?"

Madge giggled and Thom flushed whereas Gale glowered. He wasn't about to tell Bristol the real reason so he might as well let the two girls think that was it.

"Well," Madge said, looking around, "Does anyone have some first thoughts about the book?"

The discussion went better than Gale expected. Madge didn't spend the whole time talking about how wonderful Jane Austen was or how dashing she thought Wentworth was, in fact most of the time they discussed the flaws of the various characters. He should have known, Gale realized afterwards, Madge was friends with Katniss after all. Gushing over literature characters was not something Katniss would ever do.

As he continued to read the book and participate in the class discussions, Gale got increasingly frustrated with his middle-name-sake. Frederick Wentworth was pretty oblivious to fact that Anne was still in love with him and he was treating her pretty horribly too. This in turn made him angry at Anne, why would she continue to love this jerk who couldn't see what was right in front of his eyes?

It wasn't until the last in class discussion that Gale mentioned his thoughts. He hadn't been planning to, it was obvious that the two girls thought it was one of the greatest love stories written, but listening to Bristol talk about how the letter Frederick had written was so romantic had been the last straw.

He snorted and everyone turned to look at him, the two girls glaring. "What? It's ridiculous. No one would actually act like that. He was horrible to her and she just forgave him. He really didn't see that she still loved him and he her? No one can be that dense. I don't believe it. Plus one sappily written letter, which he managed to compose in the manner of minutes, does not wipe away eight whole years of not knowing each other."

Madge looked at him, exasperated. "Some people are pretty oblivious Gale. Whether it's denial as a coping mechanism or just not being able to read the signs correctly, it happens all the time."

He bristled at this, for some reason feeling like she was talking about him. Angrily he said "well, even if that's true, there is no way she would wait eight years for him. In real life she would have married Charles Musgrove when she got the chance."

Now Madge openly glared at him, "You just don't understand how love works then. If she truly loved him then no one else would make her happy and she'd rather be somewhat happy by herself than unhappy with another. That's how the heart works. Apparently you don't have one."

"Well either way this is a crap book," was all the answer that Gale could come up with. Much to his surprise, Madge's eyes began to fill with tears. Before he could retract his words the bell rang and Madge quickly gathered her things before rushing off. Gale stared after her then felt Thom place a hand on his shoulder. "You okay man? You look a little dazed. I didn't realize Undersee had so much fire in her."

Gale just grunted and shrugged off Thom's hand. Thom shook his head and grabbed Bristol's hand, they had finally gotten together, and the two of them left the classroom. As Gale was packing his stuff up he noticed Madge's copy of Persuasion lying on the floor next to the desk at which she'd been sitting.

He picked it up and put it in his bag before heading to his next class. That evening he pulled out the book again and looked at it. Next he took out a piece of paper and pencil.

He wrote '_Here is your book back. You dropped it at the end of class yesterday. I wanted to say sorry. I just found it hard to believe that someone would care for another person so much that they'd stay alone for more than eight years and then forgive them further pain. As I thought about it today I realized you are right. My dad died about 6 years ago and I know my mom still loves him as much as she did when he was still alive.' _Gale looked down at the note. He didn't like talking about his dad but he felt that last sentence needed to be written to make his apology sincere. There was something missing. He thought for a moment and finally added '_PS: My mom's favorite book is also Persuasion and because of it my middle name is Frederick. Don't tell anyone. Gale.' _

He slipped the note into her book and put it back in his backpack. The next day Gale hurried to get to class before Madge and placed the book on her desk. He watched her come in, see the book, and hurry over to her desk. He kept glancing furtively at her during class, trying to gauge how she'd taken the note. As he was leaving the class he felt a light touch on his arm. Turning he saw Madge.

"Thanks," she said quietly, then hurried away. As Gale peered after her he had the feeling he'd still messed up, that there was still something he was missing.

He didn't figure out what it was in those last few weeks of school and they didn't talk again. Gale saw Madge briefly at his graduation and once or twice glimpsed her during the summer when she would come by Katniss's house. When August came around he moved all his stuff out east to where he'd be going to college. He'd gotten a dual sports and academic scholarship, full ride. He expected never to see Madge again.


	5. Persuasion-Everlark Interlude

Author's Note: Again, nothing Hunger Games belongs to me. This one's longer so I've broken it up into three loosely connected parts, the middle one being an Everlark interlude.

After finishing college Gale had come to San Francisco to get his PhD in mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley. He'd replied to a Craigslist ad from some guy who was looking for a roommate. It had looked promising; Peeta Mellark said he was a morning person since he was one of the main bakers for a new bakery co-op and the apartment was near UCSF. Gale just hadn't understood how early 'morning person' meant for a baker. Nor had he taking into account the fact that being a baker at a co-op in San Francisco meant that Mellark was some type of odd cross between a hippie and hipster. Thankfully he wasn't vegan or vegetarian, Gale didn't think he'd have been able to function having to be careful about his meat consumption. After a few misunderstandings and disagreements, they'd settled into a routine and had slowly become friends.

Since leaving his hometown, Gale and Katniss had stayed in touch. She'd also gone off to college and had been considering what to do next. When Gale got the email that she'd decided to attend law school in San Francisco he was elated. So it was that a year after him starting graduate school Katniss also moved to San Francisco. She lived close by and it was inevitable that she could come and hang out with him and Peeta on the weekends.

Gale everything was working pretty normally in the group of three. He was too preoccupied by teaching labs, finishing up classes, and getting research done in lab to notice that his two friends were starting to hang out even when he wasn't there. It wasn't until Gale came home one Friday evening to find almost every surface in the kitchen covered in cookies that he realized something was wrong with his roommate.

"Peeta, I hope some of these are meat based cookies because I need to replenish my protein after this long week and it doesn't look like you left me any space to cook dinner."

"Gale!" Peeta yelled, running over to him. "I need your help. I've been going crazy here."

It certainly looked like it. Peeta's front was covered in flour, thankfully he was wearing an apron and it had caught most of the powder. It always impressed Gale how certain of his masculinity Peeta must be to wear the flower-covered apron that Hazelle Hawthorne had sent them one day. Apparently Posy had picked it out just for them. Peeta must also have also been sitting with his head in his hands at some point since his temples and blonde hair were also covered in the white powder.

"Umm, I think you may be past the point of help bread boy. What's your problem?"

Peeta sank back down on the sofa, "It's Katniss." He said in a rush, "I really want to ask her out but I think she's oblivious to the fact that I've got feelings for her. I think she may have placed me in the friend's category since you and I are such good friends and you two have been friends for ages. I tried taking her out on a date last weekend. I suggested we go to this really fancy restaurant, I figured that would make it obvious it was meant as a date, but she just looked at me funny and agreed to go. When we got there she acted like her usual self and asked for separate checks before I could even take the bill to pay for the whole thing. I thought maybe this weekend I'd try again by making her a batch of cookies in heart shapes. But then I couldn't figure out what type of cookies to make and hearts seemed too cheesy. That's what led to this mess. What do I do Gale? You've known her a lot longer than I have, maybe you've figured her out."

Gale sat down next to Peeta on the couch, being carefully to stay far enough away so he wouldn't become flour covered himself. "Katniss never did well with subtlety. I think if you package up all the cookies and then just told her you'd like to go on a date you'd have better luck. I'd hurry up and get yourself and this stuff cleaned up. She's coming over in about an hour."

At this Peeta jumped up and began running around the kitchen. "I need a bag for these cookies! Oh where are our giant zip-lock bags? They'll never fit into any of our containers! Why did I bake so many?"

Gale just shook his head and left the room. He was taking a shower before Peeta got a chance. With the amount of flour Peeta was covered in, the shower would probably get covered in goo before he was done. After showering Gale went to the now clean kitchen and started cooking his dinner. He doubted that Katniss would say no to Peeta, which meant that the two of them would probably want to hang out without Gale that evening. He contemplated what to do instead of going to the movies as the three of them had originally planned. He had just picked up a new book at the library. Maybe it was time to read that. When his food was done, Gale brought it to his room, not wanting to be in the way when Katniss arrived.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Gale could hear Peeta going to open it. There was the sound of voices and then laughter so he expected everything had gone well. After another few minutes there was a knock on his door and Peeta stuck his head in. "Well? Are you ready for the movie?"

Katniss peered over Peeta's shoulder grinning, "Yeah we weren't about to ditch you. Maybe Peeta will pay for your movie ticket too!"

Peeta frowned at Katniss, "Who said I'm paying for your movie ticket? With Gale coming along this isn't a date so you have to pay for yourself." Then he grinned, "Maybe you should pay for both of us since you've put both Gale and me through emotional trauma today."

At this Katniss stuck her tongue out at his and Gale groaned. "If you two are going to be flirting like crazy then I won't even go to the movie."

They both laughed. "Alright," Peeta said, "no flirting. Let's go or we'll be late for the previews." Both Katniss and Gale rolled their eyes. They did not understand Peeta's obsession with watching the previews.

It was when they were putting their coats on that Katniss dropped the bomb. "Oh Gale, I got an email from Madge today. She's decided to only do Peace Corps for a year and is going to join me in law school next year. She just found out that she'd been accepted into the environmental policies program.


	6. Persuasion-Grad School

Author's Note: Again, nothing Hunger Games belongs to me. Last part!

That summer Madge moved in with Katniss. Gale and Peeta had helped with the move in process but Gale and Madge hadn't talked too much. He didn't see much of her over the next month as he was busy in lab preparing for his Master's Exam. Even though Gale planned on going on for a PhD, his program had exams at the end of their second summer that resulted in a Masters and let students become qualified PhD students. He came home later one Friday evening to find Madge sitting in front of Peeta and his door.

"Madge?"

She had been reading a book but looked up quickly at her name and scrambled up off the floor. "Hi Gale, umm. I think Katniss must have grabbed my house keys on accident after our yoga class today. I went and worked at a coffee shop for a while and didn't realize I was missing my keys until I went home about an hour ago. She and Peeta left for a trip to Tahoe for the weekend so I can't get my keys back from her. Our landlord is also gone for the weekend so I can't get in to my place until she comes back Sunday. So I was hoping I could stay here for a few days." She looked down at her feet and shuffled them nervously. "I didn't know who else to ask and I'd prefer not to spend money on a hotel."

Gale looked down at this girl who he'd never gotten to know too well and had watched from afar. Here was his chance to get to know her better. "Sure Madge. Since it's somewhat Mellark's fault you're locked out I'm sure he won't mind if you use his bed."

He went to unlock the door, then turned and faced her again. "Have you eaten? I've been in lab way too long, am starving, and too tired to cook."

She shook her head, no. He hesitated, unsure what her tastes were like. Madge smiled and laughed, "I hope the whole weekend isn't like this, me blurting out silly stories and us not being able to figure out what to say to one another. There's a nice Thai place down the road that I like."

Gale grinned, "That's sounds good to me."

They had a pleasant dinner chatting about their different college experiences. It turned out that Madge hadn't followed in her father's footsteps and had instead gone to a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. Classes were small and you got to know your teachers well, she liked that. He talked about how gratefully he was that his mother had forced him into the AP classes in high school. They helped prep him somewhat for the rigors of college. She'd decided that nature was something undervalued in this country, both for its beauty and what it does for our species. Nature couldn't protect itself, so she'd decided to be its champion. He had ended up loving math, much to his surprise, but was still fond of working on machines like his dad had taught him to do. His undergrad advisor had suggested mechanical engineering and after looking into it he'd agreed.

Finally the owner of the small restaurant had come up to them and said they were closing for the night. He apologized, saying he realized it was an early closing time for most places in the city, but hoped they'd come again.

When they got back to his apartment Gale sighed, "I hate to be a bad host but I've got to get some more work done tonight or I'll be thinking about it too much to sleep."

Madge laughed, "That's fine. I'm already intruding on your time and space as is. I'm used to entertaining myself. Thankfully I have my computer and a book with me."

"Oh, what book?" he asked, immediately regretting it as he thought back to their last conversation about books.

She must have thought of it too, since she colored slightly before answering. "North and South. It's by Elizabeth Glaskell. It's about the differences between the people living in the north of England and the south of England during the industrial revolution."

He had the feeling that wasn't the only thing it was about but didn't press any further. "Let's find you some clean sheets and a blanket. Mellark is pretty clean but you might end up covered in flour and sugar if you sleep directly on his bed." He rummaged through his closets and pulled out a pink and purple stripped sheet covered in cat pictures and handed it to Madge. She looked at him, eyebrows raised questioningly. "My mom lets my sister help her pick out my gifts. Apparently she doesn't want to hurt Posy's feelings by suggesting that her 24 year old brother might not like the same designs a 12 year old does." On top of the sheet he placed a blue blanket with matching pillow. After hesitating he pulled out one of his old t-shirts and added it to the pile. "I think Katniss keeps some clothes here but in case you can't find them or don't want to take the risk of looking for them you can use this for sleeping in. Only if you want, I won't be offended it you don't want to." Now he became flustered. "Ahh, just ignore me. I don't know what I'm talking about."

She looked down at it then grinned. "Another of Posy's suggestions?"

Gale looked at it as well and laughed. The t-shirt read 'My sister's the smart one'. "Yes. I think she was quite pleased when she found it. She could barely keep quiet about it before it arrived."

"Well I'm going to get out of your hair and get my bed ready. Sleep well."

Gale settled down at his computer and began to work.

The next morning Gale got up late. He'd worked longer than he'd planned the night before and it was the smell of pancakes that finally woke him up. After stretching his arms overhead and yawning Gale managed to make his way out of bed and his room. He followed his nose to the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Madge Undersee triumphantly placing a pile of pancakes on the kitchen table. He noticed that she was wearing the garish flower apron over his shirt and a pair of shorts. It was also obvious that making pancakes had not been a trivial deed for her. In the garbage can he could see a few burnt pancakes and there was a smear of pancake mix on her arm.

He leaned on the doorway and crossed his arms. "Having trouble there, Undersee?"

She rolled her eyes at him and grabbed a dishcloth to wipe the batter off her arm. "Yes, you found one of my faults. I'm much better at cooking than Katniss though. I think if Peeta didn't come over and cook for her she'd probably subsist off of macaroni and cheese."

He pushed himself off the doorway and walked over to the table to take a seat. "Yeah, I don't think he'll even let her enter our kitchen." He peered up at her, trying to look innocent. "So these are all for me right?"

"Hey," she chastised, lightly tapping his arm as he reached for the to pancake. "Wait for a plate and silverware. There's no need to act like a barbarian. Once I got the hang of it I was able to make plenty, so you can at least save me two."

She moved about the kitchen grabbing plates, glasses, and silverware. Apparently she'd also made coffee. Gale knew he should get up and help her. She was the guest after all but there was something he found very bewitching about watching Madge move around his domain like she belonged in it. Especially when she was wearing his t-shirt.

Finally she sat down and he placed to two biggest pancakes on her plate. She smiled at him then asked, "How did your work go last night? You're prepping for your prelims right?"

"Yeah. I should be fine. I just know that if I don't prepare to my best then I'll be nervous when the time comes."

"I don't really know much about mechanical engineering but if it would help to practice your talk I can always be a guinea pig."

They chatted a bit more and decided that even though they both had work to do it was too nice out to stay inside. They each showered and packed their things up then went to a nearby park and found a picnic table under a shady tree at which to work. Madge must have been busy while Gale was showering because just as he began to feel the pangs of hunger she pulled out a set of sandwiches she'd made for them. "Just PB and J I'm afraid. I couldn't find much else." Finally around dinnertime they packed up their stuff and headed back to Gale's apartment. This time he cooked dinner while she read. Afterwards the two settled down on the sofa in the living room and watched reruns of Criminal Minds.

"I absolutely love this show," Madge confided in him. "I can't watch it when I'm alone though. I get too freaked out."

Gale suddenly imagined Madge as one of the victims and his heart contracted. "You can always give me a call if you get worried about something like this. I'm close enough to school and your place where stopping by isn't a problem for me."

"Thanks. I think you'd be more effective as a protector than Peeta. He'd probably just try pacifying criminals with his baked goods."

Gale chuckled, "It might just work."

The next morning Gale woke up to find that Madge had attempted to make eggs. Apparently she thought he'd like his eggs sunny side up and had tried flipping them using the pan. Instead of a successful slip she'd ended up with two eggs on the floor and no more eggs. She looked balefully at him as he stood in the kitchen laughing.

"Next time how about I make breakfast? Okay?"

"Next time," she said, looking at him with an expression on her face he couldn't quite decipher.

"Yes," he replied, sincerely hoping there would be a next time. He liked this way too much for it to be the last time. Now how was he to tell her this? He could, he supposed write her another letter like that darned Wentworth but he didn't think she'd appreciate it as much in a situation like this. No that would just be cowardice. Gale now understood Peeta's desperation when Katniss was oblivious to all his hints. How was one to tell a girl that you thought the two of you were meant to be together and that you'd been a fool for all the years you'd known each other?

It was forecasted to rain throughout the day so Gale suggested they stay in. They moved the kitchen table out into the living room next to the windows and settled down to work. Throughout the day Gale kept glancing up at Madge. She seemed perfectly oblivious to his glances and was working contentedly on her computer. At lunch just as Gale was going to ask her to have dinner with him the next weekend her phone rang. It was Katniss apologizing for stealing Madge's keys and saying that she and Peeta would be back in a few hours. When Madge hung up, he'd lost his nerve.

Shortly before dinner Katniss and Peeta got back. As an apology they'd bought Chinese take out for the four of them. Katniss and Madge chatted happily about their weekends and Peeta was the only one that seemed to notice Gale was uncharacteristically quiet. Gale just had this feeling that if he didn't say anything to Madge soon that this time she'd walk right out of his life.

"Hey Gale, why don't you drive Madge home? She won't want to walk in this weather and Katniss was thinking about staying over tonight." Gale could tell this plan was new to Katniss as she glanced quickly between Peeta and Gale but didn't say anything. And he certainly wasn't going to complain about another chance to be alone with Madge.

"Sure. You ready to head out now?" He asked Madge.

She quickly got her things together and they sprinted through the rain to his car. As Gale drove the few blocks to Madge and Katniss' apartment he kept trying to think of what to say to her. He couldn't seem to find the right words and so they drove in silence.

Once they got to the apartment Gale stopped in front of the door. "You can just hop out so you don't get too wet."

"Oh thanks. And thanks too for letting me stay at your place. I had a good time." She looked up at him, seeing hesitant. "We should hang out more often, you know, if you want."

Gale was about to respond, tell her he very much did want, when a car behind him honked. That startled Madge. "Oh, people are waiting. I'll see you soon Gale." And with that she hopped out of his car and was gone.

Gale pulled forward and glared in his rearview mirror. So close, he thought. I can't just let her leave like that. He saw an empty parking spot and pulled in quickly. He jumped out of his car, locked the doors, then ran back the block to her apartment. He looked down the row of buzzers then found the one labeled 'Everdeen and Undersee' and buzzed it.

He heard crackling then a "Yes?"

"Madge it's me. Can I come up quickly? I just need a moment."

In response he heard the door click open. Pushing it open he ran up the stairs leading to her apartment and found her holding the door open.

"Gale, you're all wet! Come in, I'll get a towel for you."

He entered the apartment but grabbed her arm before she could move away. "No Madge, I need to say this now. I have to tell you how much I admire you and care for you. I know it seemed like I didn't pay much attention to you in high school, and then for six years we didn't have any contact at all, but I think I want to wake up every morning and see you walking around in my t-shirt. I want to sit next to you on rainy days and explore the outdoors on sunny ones. Will you give me a chance to prove it to you? Could we go out, just the two of us, for some reason other than that you're locked out of your apartment?"

Madge looked up at him and he was worried she was going to start crying. "Oh Gale, you just can't decide if you want to be my Mr. Darcy or Captain Wentworth! I would love to be the heroine to your hero. Now hurry up and kiss me!"

Gale didn't need any more encouragement. He wasn't sure who this Mr. Darcy was but was pretty sure he was from another sappy love story. There was time enough to learn that later. Now all he cared about was pulling Madge to him and the sensation of his lips on hers.

It was six years later, not quite the eight and half that Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot had needed, but quite long enough for Gale.


	7. Attempting Darcy

Author's Note: Hunger Games doesn't belong to me, neither does Pride and Prejudice. I feel like these two would fit so well into a Jane Austen novel. Hopefully you are all enjoying my attempts to put them partially in those roles.

* * *

_It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl who is normally sensible is in want of a brain when crushing over a guy._

Why was it, Madge wondered, that girls always fall for the guys that ignore them or treat them like dirt? What was it in the female psyche that made them find this attractive? And why, she wondered, did guys so often think that the best way to a girls heart was by pulling her proverbial pig tails?

She sighed, her's was a hopeless case, Gale basically acted like she was invisible. Why couldn't she have fallen for a nice Peeta type character instead? Then she would have been guaranteed plenty of romance, someone who would make her feel special. Instead she was pining for a person who thought she was so low that there was no point in acknowledging her existence.

These dreary wonderings had come on when she was taking a break from reading the latest novel by her favorite fantasy writer. The genre was fantasy but she knew that if the author couldn't been counted on to add a nice romance into each story then Madge also wouldn't read the works as voraciously as she did. It was a combination then of the fantasy/romance novel and the late hour that could be blamed for the plan she came up with, she really shouldn't stay up late reading. Nothing good had ever come from it. There really was no good explanation for why she stuck to the hair-brained scheme, but one never could say that Madge Undersee wasn't committed to a plan once she'd made it. The plan was to go 'Mr. Darcy' on Gale. Maybe if it worked for guys, it would work for her too. She was going to take charge of her own destiny.

The first opportunity Madge got to try out her new persona was a week later. One of the student groups was hosting a Bollywood dance night. Somehow Peeta had convinced Katniss to go and Bristol had mentioned to Madge that she and Thom would also going. If Gale's two best friends were going to be there, Madge figured he'd be there too, which meant that so would she.

Madge had read enough regency romance novels to know that a dance was the perfect opportunity to begin scorning Gale.

Madge forced Peeta and Katniss to show up to the dance an hour after it started, she knew her role was to show up late, hopefully building up the anticipation to her arrival. Much to her disappointment, Gale wasn't there yet either. That's just like him, she thought, ruining her evening just because he could.

A few minutes later Gale showed up with Thom and Bristol.

"Hey, I just got your text, sorry we're a few minutes late. Why'd you guys want to come so late anyway?" Bristol asked Katniss.

Katniss shrugged. "I don't know. Madge insisted on it."

Peeta grinned, "I think she wanted to be fashionably late, isn't that right Madgey?"

Madge glared at him. "Nothing of the sort." With that she turned and stalked off to the bathroom. So the two groups had been in communication, this was going to be harder than she thought. No one seemed to understand that Madge had a plan for the evening! Maybe she should have let someone else into her plan. Unfourtunately she didn't have any friends ideal for helping with schemes like these, Katniss would have thought she was crazy and Peeta would have taken it too far. He probably would have insisted on showing up in breeches and a top hat!

After being antisocial for what she hoped was the correct amount of time, Madge went back to the dance floor. Finally, here was one bit of luck. Katniss and Peeta were dancing together and Gale was standing not too far from them.

Madge went up to Katniss and stood there awkwardly for a few moments, waiting for Katniss to suggest she find a partner to start dancing with. The suggestion that did come was from the wrong person and was the wrong one.

"Madge," Peeta asked, "Did you want to dance with us? We could do a group of three for the robot? Or," he added motioning Gale over, "we could do a foursome robot dance!"

It wasn't quite right, but at this point Madge would take what she could get. "No, you two are quite the best dancers in the room. I have no desire to dance as no one else here is good enough to tempt me as a partner."

"Ahh, sure. That's why I suggested we all dance together," Peeta said, puzzled as to Madge's uncharacteristic strangeness.

"Don't worry Undersee, I wouldn't dare dance with someone with skills as superior as yours. I wouldn't want to tarnish your reputation of being perfect at everything," Gale said bitingly and stalked off.

"Way to go Madge." Katniss admonished her. "Just so you know Gale is pretty insecure about his dancing. It was all Thom and I could do to convince him to come tonight."

Well, the interaction had kind of gone how she'd envisioned it but instead of elation Madge had a tight knot in her stomach. She hadn't thought that Gale would actually hurt by what she'd said, he'd never seemed self-conscious about anything to her.

"I'm sorry," Madge managed to stutter out. She could feel tears starting to fill her eyes. She really wasn't cut out for this Mr. Darcy business. She turned and ran off, making sure to take an entirely different direction from the one Gale had gone.

Madge was also nothing if not persistent. Her first Darcy plan hadn't gone over very well but she reasoned that didn't mean that she should give up already. She'd give it one more try and if things went as horribly as the first time she'd scrap the whole thing.

* * *

The next chance came during spring break. Gale and Katniss had convinced Peeta that they should all go on a week long camping trip and Peeta asked Madge to join them, he said on the hopes that between the two of them they could convinced Katniss and Gale that it wasn't necessary to do the whole trip isolated from society and modern forms of food. Madge figured this was the time to initiate blatant ignoring interspersed with intense gazing in the form of glares. She'd been practicing her gazing in the mirror and was sure that any Darcy fan would approve.

The trip had started out fine, Gale mostly grunted and stayed on one side of the campground whereas Madge stayed stoically quiet and stayed on the other. After two days of conversation carried out almost entirely by Katniss and Peeta, which meant that it was almost two whole days of Peeta monologue, they appeared to have had their fill of quiet.

"You two are hopeless!" Katniss burst out after breakfast on the third day. "Peeta and I are going on a hike together. I don't want either of you coming with and ruining today as well. We'll be back for dinner. Have something figured out by then or Peeta and I are getting our own campsite away from you two."

Madge figured Gale wouldn't take any notice of the warning and she wasn't planning on it either. She'd actually started enjoying the quiet surrounding them, allowing her to hear all the sounds of nature, and the glaring afforded her good opportunity to examine Gale in more detail. Each time she looked at him, he seemed more handsome and she noticed some additional detail about him that she liked. She knew him to be smart and caring person when he felt like it. She sighed, if only he wasn't a total jackass when it concerned her.

She took her book out from the tent and settled down on the lounge chair she'd claimed as her own. Her newest book was a series of Sherlock Holmes short stories and she was starting to wonder if she should have created a series of clues for Gale to solve instead of playing Darcy.

After about 30 minutes of reading she decided it was time to commence in the first staring portion of her day. Looking up she admired the way the wind blew through Gale's hair and the intense look of concentration as he too read. She hadn't known he liked to read until this trip. She wondered what it was and if she'd read it before or would like it.

There was something about the morning that made her more sluggishness so that when Gale looked up at her she wasn't fast enough at going back to peering down at her book.

"I knew it! You keep staring at me. Will you quit it!" Gale snapped. "It's driving me crazy."

Madge, startled to hear him actually speaking to her, dropped her book. Remember she thought to herself, you're Mr. Darcy. You are suave and insulting. "Why should I? It's not like you usually notice me when I'm around, and when you do you're usually the one doing the glaring. Anyways, why would I stare at you? I'm looking at all the nice trees behind." She almost smacked herself for that. Looking at the trees? She must be going crazy.

"Fine Undersee. You know, I thought if you came on this trip we could get to know each other better and be friends. If I'd known you were going to give me the silent treatment the whole time I wouldn't have suggested to Katniss and bread boy that we invite you." Gale snarled back.

"You! Wanting to be friends! And you're accusing me of giving you the silent treatment?" Madge gasped in outrage. "I'm pretty sure that almost every conversation we've had up until this point of knowing one another has been initiated by me! All you do is grunt and glare and accuse me of being a stuck up rich girl. I don't know what I ever saw in you but I'm done. I thought that giving you some of your own treatment in the Mr. Darcy style would make you see me differently but apparently you are just incapable of thinking of me in any thing other than a negative light!" She stood up and glared at him one last time. "You can tell Katniss and Peeta that I'll see them Sunday night. I'm going home." She stood up, turned on her heel, and stalked away.

Madge had every intention of hitchhiking back to the dorms if necessary. She had money, keys, and her cell phone in her pocket. She knew it was dangerous to hitchhike but she couldn't stand being stuck with Gale for another minute. She was certain she would have made it back too if only she hadn't gotten lost. Being Madge, she'd decided to take a short cut through the forest and had ended up getting turned around. It was just her luck that it started to rain.

At first Madge didn't realize there had been a change in the weather as she'd been crying and had assumed that the wetness she was feeling on her face was just due to tears. Soon enough though she was wet all over and she knew didn't think it was possible for anyone to cry that hard. Madge looked around for shelter and thought she spotted a building and started running towards it. About halfway to the dark shape she tripped over a slippery tree root. With a cry she landed on her side and felt a sharp pain on her shin. Looking down she saw that it had been scrapped up and was starting to form a welt. She took another look at the shape and saw it wasn't a house after all. What a mess I've made, she thought. Maybe I can just drown my sorrows in the rain if I sit here under this tree.

She must have been sitting there for at least 10 minutes before she heard someone calling her name. She didn't respond at first, her bravado about being safe alone in the woods suddenly gone. As she heard her name again though, she realized she recognized the voice, she'd just never heard Gale say her first name.

"Madge! Madge, can you hear me?"

She straightened somewhat from her hunched position and looked around. "Gale! I'm over here!"

She suddenly saw his blue raincoat come into view. He ran up to her. "Madge, are you okay? You're soaking! Don't you ever go running off like that again."

She looked up at him and tears began to well up again. "I'm sorry," she blubbered. "I wasn't thinking and I was angry. You can just leave me here. I'll be fine."

Gale sighed, "Come here Madge. I brought your coat. Are you hurt?"

She looked down at her leg and saw his hand move down to hover over it, hesitating before withdrawing. "Madge, do you think you can walk? Let me help you up."

She looked up and saw Gale lean in close. He grabbed her under the armpits and pulled her up. She tried taking a step and felt wobbly.

"Here, put on your raincoat. I'll carry you."

Madge tried protesting as she slipped the raincoat over her wet arms but Gale picker her up bridal style as soon as she'd zipped up the coat.

"No Madge. If I'd acted more like a normal person we never would have fought. If I hadn't been yelling too you never would have left. If I'd come looking for you sooner this never would have happened. Let me help you now to make up for being so stupid." As Gale carried her, Madge leaned into his chest. He was so warm and she felt so cold, she tried burying her head into his shoulder breathing in the forest smells of Gale.

After what she was sure was much less time than it had taken her to stomp away from the campsite, Gale had carried her back and deposited her in the tent. "Madge I'm going to stand outside while you change. You need to get into dry clothes and warm up. Let me know when I can come in."

She nodded and began to peel the wet layers off. Madge grabbed her towel and tried drying her arms and hair and gently blotting her legs. Thankfully she'd brought warm pajamas that she then pulled on. She hissed as the pant leg rubbed along her injured leg.

"You okay?" Gale asked, concern obvious in his voice.

"I'm fine," she looked at his shape through the tent wall. "You can come in now." She asked as he maneuvered in, "Did you want me to stand outside so you can change too?"

He grinned at her, "Thanks for the concern but I think I don't have to worry about you trying to get all handsy with me. You should stay warm and dry in here."

Madge turned around quickly as he began to unzip his coat. Did that mean that she had to worry about him getting handsy? Had Gale Hawthorne been protecting her honor? Madge tried to think of other things as she heard him first removing articles of clothing, toweling dry, and then putting on dry items.

"Alright, all done," came Gale's deep voice.

She turned around. "Do you think Katniss and Peeta are okay?"

"Yeah, Katniss knows where all the shelters are and she probably packed their raincoats. I wouldn't worry about them. They'll probably lay low for a while until the rain lets up a bit and then make their way back. I doubt they will get anywhere near as wet as you did."

She shivered, the initial warmth of dry clothes had already dissipated.

"You still cold?" Gale asked, scrutinizing her.

She nodded and looked around for additional layers. Gale seemed to make his mind up about something because he zipped open first his sleeping bag and then hers before arranging them one on top of the other. He lifted the edge of the top one and gestured for her to get inside.

"Thanks," Madge smiled at him. Her smile quickly disappeared as he proceeded to get in next to her. She looked at him questionly.

"Hey, I can't always be a gentleman. Besides, don't they always talk about sharing body heat to warm up?" Gale said in response to her gaze.

Madge nodded, "I suppose."

"Good," and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush with his body, her head tucked under his chin.

Madge stayed stiff for a few moments before relaxing into Gale. She had been dreaming about something like this happening for the last year or so, so she might as well enjoy it.

"Much better," Gale murmured, his breathe ghosting across her cheek. They lay there in silence for a few minutes as warmth began to buildup under the cover. "So Undersee," Madge could feel Gale's chest rumbling as he spoke and his voice had gotten husky, "if you're playing the part of Darcy, I supposed that makes me Elizabeth. Does that mean we have to go through the whole bit where I reject your proposal and then visit your house before deciding that I was misguided the whole time and am madly in love with you? Or can we just skip to the part where you kiss me? Before you answer, remember that I am saving you from hypothermia." Madge pulled away slightly to look up at him. Just as she imagined, he was smirking.

She pursed her lips, "Well my parents do have a pretty nice house, I suppose I could arrange for a visit." He didn't let her get any further, pulling her back against him but this time guiding her face to his at their lips met.


	8. Strawberry Jam

Author's Note: I don't own any part of the Hunger Games.

* * *

Katniss jumped as Madge slammed their apartment door open. She stumbled in through the doorway, with a grocery bag slung over each shoulder.

"I have to stop waiting so long between grocery trips! I think my arms are going to fall off!" Madge dropped the bags onto the floor and swung the door shut before leaning back on it to rest. After a few moments she looked down at the grocery bags, eyeing them with distaste. "Is Peeta coming by tonight?"

Katniss looked up at Madge. "No, I was planning on going over to his place. Why?" Madge's eyes darted to the bags sitting on the floor then looked at Katniss innocently. "Seriously? You want my boyfriend to carry your grocery bags 20 feet into the kitchen? That is not happening. Those bags had better be moved in the next 20 minutes Madge Undersee or I'm not bringing home any baked goods from his place tomorrow."

Madge pouted, "Peeta was my friend first. I think the least either of you could do in return for my getting you two together is have him move these bags for me. Anyway, it would be like picking up a bag of feathers for him."

Katniss just shook her head. "He's not a caveman here to do our bidding. And you're the one always talking about women power." Katniss smirked, "Although if you'd like I could call Gale. I'm sure he would _love_ to help you with those bags."

That was all the incentive Madge needed to gather her last reserves of strength. She hefted the two bags up and carried them the remaining distance to the kitchen. With a big grunt she lifted them up onto the counter.

"They also keep changing the brands at that local grocery I like," she complained. "I finally get used to one type and then they've switched it on me again." Madge moved around the kitchen as she began to put away her groceries. "I ended up getting a new type of strawberry jam, it's a local farm called 'Hawthorne Fields'. Oh, and the labels have pictures drawn by one of the kids from the family. It's super cute!"

Not getting a response like she'd expected, she peered out through the kitchen into the living room to see Katniss staring at her, a look of disbelief on her face. "What?"

"Hawthorne Fields, Madge? Really?"

"I don't see any thing wrong with it. It's a cute name."

"Did you even realize that Gale's . . ."

Madge interrupted Katniss, "Don't bother telling about Gale. He's probably knee deep in all the local farming stuff but I'll choose my own jam, thank you very much."

Katniss shrugged. "Okay, I won't mention it again."

* * *

It was a week later, early morning, and there was a knock on the Undersee-Everdeen door. Madge had just gotten out of bed and started water boiling for her usual pot of tea. She pulled herself up out of the chair she'd deposited herself in and shuffled to the door. Where was Katniss when she needed her early to rise roommate?

"Hello," Madge said to a chest when she opened the apartment door. Her eyes traveled upward to meet the stormy gray of Gale's. "Katniss isn't here." She stood staring at him as he took in her half-awake state.

"I always had you pegged for an early riser Undersee. I'm guessing from the state of your hair and giant t-shirt that I was wrong."

Madge scowled at Gale, he could never just be polite. She pulled at the hem of her t-shirt, suddenly conscious that it completely covered the old shorts she'd slept in, showing a good deal more of her legs than she generally did in public.

The water heater dinged, startling Madge enough to remind her of her manners. Even though she found Gale to never be pleasant to her, she didn't need to be unpleasant back, or at least not uncivil. Civility she could always do, years as the mayor's daughter had taught her that.

Madge turned her back to Gale and shuffled back into the kitchen, calling behind her, "You can wait for Katniss here if you'd like. Would you like some tea?"

As she poured hot water over the tea leaves, Madge looked over her shoulder to see that Gale had followed her in and was staring at the kitchen table.

"Tea?" she asked again.

He grunted, still staring at the table. "Sure."

Curious as to what Gale was so interested she turned around fully to see what he was staring at. Unless he had a sudden interest in Ikea furniture it had to be her new jam. She'd already gone through half the jar it was so good.

"Are you hungry? I don't have any dead animals to offer you but I can toast some bread if you'd like to try that jam. It's fantastic."

He looked up at her then, eyes narrowed. "Sarcastic much Undersee?"

"What," she asked, her temper reigniting from his comments on her morning appearance. "It's local. I thought you were all pro-local."

"You shouldn't buy it out of pity."

Madge bristled. "You know what Gale? I don't have the energy this early in the morning to put up with your attitude. I don't need you to come to my place, insult my appearance, and then criticize my food choices. I don't know if you think this jam is above me or that I only bought it for looks, but your opinion doesn't matter." As she'd been talking Madge had filled up a mug of tea for herself and grabbed her plate of jam-smeared toast. "Eat or drink whatever you deem worthy of your greatness. I'm going back to my room." With that she stomped out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into her small bedroom.

After putting down her plate and mug she slammed the door with just enough force so she could be sure Gale would hear it. She glared at the door. Whenever Gale was around she felt like a young schoolgirl being teased by her crush. It wasn't fair that someone she got along so poorly with should also have the same ideals as her and be incredibly smart. It was particularly unfair that he also had good looks. She felt like every time they interacted she was initially charmed by his appearances, and then as soon as he opened his mouth she felt squashed like a bug he'd stepped on.

Madge took a bit of her toast and now, rather than the delightful sweetness she was used to, it tasted dry and flavorless. She washed it down with a sip of tea and fought back the tears filling her eyes, stupid Gale for opening his mouth and stupid her for taking his comments to heart.

After about 10 minutes she heard the apartment door open and a conversation start up. It sounded like three people so Katniss must have brought Peeta back with her. After another 5 minutes, she heard the door open and close again, and then a tap at her door.

"Come in," she said.

Peeta opened the door and came in to sit on her bed. "I heard you and Gale had a disagreement again."

She snorted. "Disagreement? Is that what he called it? I'm surprised he didn't say it was me having a hissy fit."

Peeta sighed, "I think he realized that it was based off a misunderstanding and he seemed pretty upset about it too. Madge, I hate to tell you but it sounds like this time the argument was your fault."

"What!" she exclaimed angrily. "Peeta, he came in here and insulted my appearance then acted all holier-than-thou. How is that my fault?"

Peeta placed his hand on her arm, gently as if she were a child he was about to tell that Santa Claus didn't exist. "Madge, Hawthorne Fields is his family's farm."

Realization dawned on her. Katniss had tried to warn her, she knew Gale's last name was Hawthorne, she even knew that his family had a farm. She groaned, placing her head in her hands. "Peeta, how could I be so stupid? Now he probably thinks I'm some airheaded blonde!"

"There's nothing wrong with being an airheaded blonde. Just look at me," Peeta joked. "Seriously though Madge, is it important for him to think well of you?"

She looked down in her lap and shrugged, "It's not necessary to my existence. But it would be nice as he's Katniss' friend and all."

"Is that the only reason Madge?" Peeta's voice held a no nonsense tone.

Madge brought her gaze up his and blushed. That was the trouble with being friends with Peeta, he always seemed to know your darkest secrets, even before you did.

"It might be more than that. I don't think any thing will ever come of it though. I'm pretty sure Gale already despises with the depths of his soul."

Peeta stared at Madge incredulously. "Madge, I'm pretty sure he does nothing of the sort, in fact I'm still debating whether Gale has a soul. Either way, you are great and Gale has got to know that, that's probably why he's always so standoffish around you. You are practically the Princess Leia to his Han Solo."

Madge chuckled. "What does that make you and Katniss?"

"Obi Wan and Chewbacca of course."

Madge burst out laughing. "I am so telling Katniss that you called her Chewbacca."

Peeta shrugged, grinning widely. "She probably would just give you her 'Are you crazy' look and ignore it. There's also a high probability she'd take it as a complement." He paused and his face grew serious. "You should really apologize Madge, or at least talk to him. I think he feels pretty bad about it."

* * *

One day later, a little before noon, found Madge standing outside the house Gale shared with two of his buddies. She had just decided that it was pointless apologizing to Gale, he probably wouldn't even agree to talk to her, and had turned around to leave when the door opened.

"I thought you were going to burn a hole in the door, you've been staring at it so long."

Madge cringed and slowly turned around. "Hi Gale, do you have time to talk or were you leaving?" she asked hopefully.

He looked at her, the height difference even worse than usual as she stood at the bottom of his steps. "Nope. Come on in Undersee."

She trod up the stairs cautiously. She was a little surprised he hadn't uttered some scathing remark yet. It was unnerving. It didn't help that he appeared to have just taken a shower. Gale's hair was still slightly wet and sticking out at odd angles in a way that she found adorable. In addition his t-shirt was sticking in places to what must be his slightly moist body. She had always figured Gale was well toned but this was the closest she'd gotten to any real evidence.

Gale ushered her into the house then closed the door quietly behind them. "My roommates were out late last night and are still asleep." He motioned to the kitchen. "Did you want anything?"

Madge grimaced, remembering how that had been the beginning of the last conversation.

He must have remembered to, since he put his hand on her shoulder and guided her past the kitchen entrance down the hall into a small room. "Maybe it would be better if we avoided that room. I can still get you something though."

She shook her head, busy taking in the room she was standing in. There was a small bed in the corner and a desk and chair in another, next to the lone window. It was tidy and had a temporary room feel.

Gale swept his hand through the air. "Welcome to my humble abode, I hopefully won't be here much longer. I almost have enough money to get a place of my own. That's why I came over yesterday, Katniss was helping me house shop." He took a deep breath, "Madge, I'm sorry about what I said. I know I tend to be insensitive when I'm around you. I was nervous about the house and then you were there looking perfect and eating my jam and I just couldn't think straight."

Madge blinked at him. She was the one who was supposed to be apologizing. She was the one who'd overreacted and stomped out of the room. And he thought she looked perfect? Apparently he had been on some hallucinagenic when he came over.

"Madge?" Gale asked timidly, staring at her with his brows crinkled. Great, now she looked like a dimwit, standing there staring at him. "I'm really sorry, is there some way I can make it up to you? I can get you a discount on the jam, I know it's always pricy at those hippy stores we sell to."

Madge was worried he'd continue babbling unless she took charge of the situation. She closed the distance between them, reaching up to place her hands on his shoulders and briefly shivering as she felt the heat emanating from his body.

"Gale, you have nothing to apologize for. You came to meet your friend and I acted like a crazy lady, tromping around all a mess and grumbling before biting your head off and then leaving." She laughed, "We really fight over the stupidest things. I just don't understand why we set each other off so much. But I promise to start making a conscious effort to try and stop jumping to conclusions and fighting with you."

Gale looked down at her with his stormy eyes and gently placed his hands on her hips, slowly drawing her closer. "Madge Undersee, don't you dare stop fighting with me. You make me think really hard about my opinions and I love seeing the flash in your eyes and the blush on your cheeks." He grinned and added, his voice gruff, "There it is. I'd like to make one suggestion however. I think we should end all our arguments like this."

With that he leaned down and placed his lips on hers. The kiss started hesitant but, after she got over her shock and as it became obvious that she wasn't going to pull away, he pulled her closer so her body was flush with his and intensified the kiss.

After a few moments, he pulled away but kept her body pulled against his. "Okay," she exhaled. That was all it took for her to learn that when the full force of Gale Hawthorne's smile was directed at you there was no way you could be a coherent, thinking being.

"What do you say that I take you on a lunch date? I could show you the house I'm thinking about buying too," he added hopefully.

She got on her tippy toes and placed a kiss on his lips. "I'll take lunch and a tour but don't think I'm moving in with you just like that," she joked.

He grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "But I need someone whose job it is to walk around the house without pants on."

She groaned and lightly punched his shoulder. "In your dreams."

"Oh you'd like me to have dreams like that would you?"

Madge disengaged herself from him then grabbed his hand, pulling him out through the house. "With talk like that you are going to want to get me out on this date before I change my mind. If you're lucky, after lunch we can talk all about our dreams."

He pulled her to him again, this time her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her middle, head on her shoulder. "I'd like that," he whispered in her ear and she smiled, pretty sure he meant far off dreams that involved houses and little kids running through their halls.


	9. Undeserving

Author's Note: Hunger Games does not belong to me. I was trying out a new style. Hopefully you like it!

* * *

It was easy to covet Madge. Despite the harsh treatment she'd received at the hands of the capital, she was still golden. Her now short, harshly cropped locks were still bright blond and rather than waves they formed tight ringlets around the crown of her head. Her voice, at first harsh for disuse, was bright and her laughs seemed the epitome of joy. Her words were full of hope for the future despite what she'd faced during the dark days leading up to her release. People clung to them like in the olden days they'd clung to the hope their children wouldn't be reaped.

It was easy to place Madge with all the other things he didn't deserve. Sure, he was a war hero, but as Gale had learned, being a war hero meant that to many you were also a war villain. He'd taken Prim's life and those of many other innocents, he'd unintentionally helped destroy Katniss. He hadn't been able to save Finnick, whom Annie needed so much. What made him most unworthy was his inability to save her during the bombings of district 12, the fact that he hadn't even tried and then just accepted her death. Perhaps if he'd gone back that night to check in the rubble he would have saved her so much pain and terror.

When he'd found out that she was alive and in District 2, Gale had vowed to try and make up for at least one of his sins. He appointed himself her unofficial protector. He'd moved across the district to live on the same floor as her so he could keep watch at night. Afternoons she worked at a bookstore and he took to frequenting the café across the street to survey to area and patrons for potential threats. Mornings before he left for work he would check the area surrounding their apartment for people who didn't belong.

She knew he was watching her and he knew she knew. Despite this they never openly acknowledged each other. He was observed watching her by others, but when she turned towards him, he lowered his gaze. She was more covert, observing him in a series of quick glimpses.

His family urged him to come home or at least visit. They missed him, they said. It was time for him to come back, they believed. Katniss was starting to heal, it was time for him to reunite with his best friend, they urged. Posy was getting older and missed her brother. Hazelle wanted family meals with all her children at the table. Madge didn't have a family any longer, no one to go back to. She had made connections with people in 2, but they were more acquaintances than friends. Despite not communicating, Gale and Madge were each other's closest connections.

Finally, one night Gale heard noises in the hallway and opened his door to find her, hand poised to knock. It's been five years since the bombings, she said. The nightmares are worse on the anniversary, she whimpered. He pulled her in, making sure the door was looked tight, then brought her over to his couch and wrapped her in his arms. That first nightly visit she was the only one who talked, she told him about the memories she had of the bombing and the nightmares they had inspired. He held her tight, rubbing circles on her back until she finally drifted to sleep. When he woke the next morning she was gone with a note on his door, Thanks, she'd written in her still curly writing.

A month later she came again, and again he anticipated her knock. This night, and one night of the following half a year, she came and told him about her time as a captive. He responded by barring parts of his soul he'd told no other, the guilt he felt about the deaths he'd caused, the horror at how quickly he'd become as ruthless as those he'd fought. Unlike the first night, she never again left without him knowing. She'd either wake him to say goodbye or his eyes would drift open shortly before hers. Throughout this, other than the monthly night visits, they continued to seemingly ignore one another in public.

Then one month she didn't come. Gale waited nightly for her soft knock but it never came. He noticed that she was looking worn at work and was talking less. Finally one night he couldn't stand it any longer. Since they'd begun interacting his nightmares had become less frequent but now they were returning full force. It was one of those nightmare induced sleepless nights that he broke and went to her door. He had to knock three times before she opened the door, he was sure she'd come to the door after the first knock.

Why, he asked, had she stopped coming? Her eyes had flashed and she'd responded by asking why she wasn't good enough to talk to in public? Why should she come for comfort when the rest of the time he still snubbed her, like he had the Mayor's daughter? It was for her protection, he argued. He wasn't any good. He didn't want people despising her by association. She didn't care about all that, if her friend wouldn't even speak to her in public than what good was he at night? It was her use of the word friend that broke him. If this sweet creature misguidedly deemed him worthy of friendship he couldn't break by refusing to play his role.

They began to do things together, slowly at first as Gale was still worried that he would damage her just by them being seen together. As time progressed they became inseparable when one or the other wasn't at work. He watched her charm people wherever they went and told her how much everyone enjoyed her presence. She watched as people looked at him with looks of awe and thankfulness and told him how everyone made some bad decisions but that what he did was for the good of the country.

She woke him one night from a nightmare, as each still had them intermittently. He must have been talking in his sleep. As soon as he was conscious she began telling him how worthy he was of love and how no person should be kept forever from those things they want, no one was so bad to deserve that. He tried to persuade her otherwise, beginning to list his demons, when she stopped him with a kiss. I don't care, she told him. You have saved me from sadness and loneliness and that makes you worthy of my love, she whispered in his ear. Do I not deserve yours?

Once again she won him over, it was surprising how easily she could get him to change his usually immovable mind. Outwardly, not much changed between them. Neither was prone to displays of affection when in public and they kept their routines the same. However they moved in together and moved to sleeping in the bed together, the couch long forgotten. Mornings started later and nights were no longer broken due to nightmares.

Finally he followed his family's wishes and traveled back home. But he took Madge with him and watched as they drew her into their close-knit unit. She supported him during his first meeting with Katniss and then, when she could see both parties were ready, drew Peeta far enough away to give them space.

On the last day, before they left for District 2, he drew her through the woods he'd so often escaped to as a child and teen. She followed eagerly, wanting to learn more about this part of him. When he reached her strawberry bush he went down on one knee and asked her to be his wife. She knelled down next time him and wrapped her arms around his frame. Of course, she whispered. Forever and always.


	10. Visits-Part 1

Author's Note: The Hunger Games characters do not belong to me. This is the first of a two or three-parter.

* * *

"Madge, you're invited to join us for dinner at The Chowder House."

Madge looked up from her position on the couch, she had been sitting curled up for most of the afternoon rereading Lord of the Rings for the millionth time.

"Who's 'us'?"

"Gale and Peeta are in town again meeting with clients and they have the evening off. It would be just the four of us."

Madge frowned. Gale was Katniss's best friend from her hometown and they got together to hang out whenever his work took him to Portland. Lately his business partner Peeta had started travelling with him and Katniss had started dragging Madge along so there weren't any third wheels. All this had really succeeded in doing was making Madge feel like something of a fourth wheel. It was obvious that Gale and Katniss would have plenty to talk about without her and that Peeta was head over heels for Katniss. Peeta was pretty nice to Madge and tried to include her in the conversations but she always felt that Gale thought of her as a creature that, if necessary, was observed, not engaged with.

"I don't know Katniss. I feel like being cozy and reading tonight. I'm at a really good part." Madge gestured with her book.

Katniss plucked the book out of Madge's hands and, after moving the bookmark to the correct page, knowing from experience how vicious Madge would get otherwise, placed it on the coffee table by the couch.

"Madge, you are always at the good part and you always want to just stay in. You have to come with. Think of it as payback for all those parties you dragged me to in college."

Madge rolled her eyes, "You just want me to come so that no one will notice when you spend the entire time ogling Peeta. It won't work though. I'm not grouchy and rebellious enough to satisfy Gale's conversational needs and Peeta will just be staring back at you. If anything, I'd suggest to Gale that he not show up. No need for all four of us to be sitting and awkwardly staring at each other."

Katniss glared at Madge and pulled the blanket off her friend. "Up! Don't turn this around on me. I don't even know how to 'ogle' and you know it. Plus," she added, her cheeks turning rosy, "I can't help it if Peeta is nicely sculpted."

Madge fake gagged. "Ugh. Don't you dare get girly on me Ms. Everdeen. I don't think either of us could handle it. Well," she grouched, "if you're going to steal my book and my blanket then I feel you've left me no choice. But there is no way I'm dressing to impress." Making a show of it, Madge got up off the couch and shuffled to her room.

Ten minutes later Katniss popped her head into Madge's room to find her housemate's nose buried in another book, but thankfully no longer in her pajamas.

"Madge! Get your lazy butt up. They're here." As Madge rose from her bed, Katniss was able to take in what she was wearing. "Ummm, I did mention where we were going right?"

Madge looked at her rebelliously. "If I'm going, at least I'm going to be comfortable physically. There's only so much emotional discomfort one can take when dressed up for a night on the town. I'll be much more capable to handle the evening dressed like this." Madge gestured to her jeans and old college sweatshirt before slipping her cat covered socked feet into a pair of clogs.

"Alright," Katniss shrugged. "Let's go then."

As Madge followed her housemate she contemplated her choice in outfit. It wasn't like Katniss was wearing anything much different. Sure, Katniss was wearing her fancy clothes but that only consisted of dark hued skinny jeans, shoes that weren't tennis shoes, and a sweater. And yes, Madge had worn these jeans so often they were baggy and her sweatshirt had some bleach stains on it, but the jeans didn't have any holes and the bleach spots weren't too large or in prominent places. Plus she was pretty sure the restaurant they were going to was one of those where they practically had to read the menu by candlelight. No one would even be able to tell what she was wearing, it was going to be fine.

Katniss led her to a silver Toyota parked outside their apartment building. The brunette and blonde heads were easy to see through the windshield. As usual, Peeta had a big cheery smile on his face and Gale had a scowl.

As they entered the car Gale turned around and eyed Madge. "We not good enough for your many ball gowns Undersee? I'm sure any dress you wore would be mighty pretty."

She never should have told them about all the fancy dresses she'd owned as a teenager. They'd been talking about strange things their parents did and she'd mentioned that her mom always bought her prom dresses, "for those fancy dress parties you dad might want to take you too." Apparently Gale had been morally offended by how her parents chose to spend their money.

"Oh no. I keep all my fancy clothes at my mansion on the other side of town. I'm sorry I didn't have time to drive all the way over there to pick one out." Madge replied sarcastically.

Katniss sighed, "Just let her be Gale. I wouldn't put it past her to jump out of the car just to get back to that book she was reading. I'm surprised she didn't bring it with."

Madge shrugged, "It's too thick. Maybe I should just go back." She sighed, looking out the window.

As if he was afraid that she actually would, Gale started the car and maneuvered out of his spot.

"What are you reading," he asked.

Madge peered at him through narrowed eyes. Since when did Gale care about her free time activities? "I just got to rereading the part in The Return of the King where Faramir and Eowyn are in the house of healing. I love that part."

"You read that whole thing before and you wanted to read it again?" Gale asked disbelievingly.

She glared at him, offended. "Yes, I like to read. Do you have a problem with that? I don't want to sit around doing my hair and nails all the time, despite what you seem to think."

Gale sighed, making eye contact with her via the rear-view mirror. "Okay, some one is feisty today. I wasn't trying to insult you Undersee. I'm impressed, really."

She looked at him, unsure if she should believe his words. Gale had been making snide comments to her and about her since they'd met. She didn't know if he'd actually ever said something nice to her before.

"Welll," Peeta said, interrupting her thoughts. "I think this is the perfect time for me to share my thoughts on which character each of us would be." He turned in his seat to wink at the two girls. "Madge and Gale here aren't the only two to have read that tome."

Well, that was interesting tidbit. Gale read a book? Madge never would have guessed.

"Not this again Peeta." Gale groaned.

"Yes!" Peeta chirped. He spent the rest of the ride in a monologue debate as to whether he was more Gimli or Pippin. Katniss and Gale were obviously Legolas and Aragorn, respectively. After much thought he'd decided that Madge was Arwen although, he added, he could see her as Galadriel. Madge was pretty sure Peeta was Tom Bombadil but didn't try to bring it up. She was too busy mulling over the implications of Gale and her characters being in a romantic relationship. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. She'd definitely thought before about what it would be like to be the calm water to Gale's fire but he always seemed to turn her from a calm pond into a whirlpool of emotions. In the end she'd decided it was a moot point. Gale didn't seem to have any interest in her other than as a personification of all the things he felt were wrong about the upper class in the United States.

Finally they arrived at the restaurant and Katniss was able to distract Peeta by asking about if he'd been there before. Madge followed behind them and was startled when she heard Gale's deep voice close to her.

"Madge, I'm sorry about that comment when you got in the car. Bread boy convinced me I shouldn't change out of my suit from earlier and I was envious of how comfortable and self-assured you looked, like you know you're hot stuff and people will pay attention to you no matter how you dress."

Madge scanned Gale and noticed that while he did look quite nice, not that she'd ever tell him but those pants did great things for him, he also didn't look quite comfortable. "It's okay, I shouldn't have jumped at your throat. And I'm pretty sure I could count the times I've been considered 'hot stuff' on one hand and none of those times was I wearing anything near as casual as this." She shrugged, "I just didn't feel like caring about my appearance tonight. Everyone gets judged either way. I might as well like what I'm wearing."

By this time they'd been shown to their table and everyone started paging through their menus. After a few minutes their server came by the table. He began by flirting with Katniss but both Peeta and Gale made it clear that they considered Katniss off limits that type of treatment. Katniss herself was oblivious to the subtle interactions going on between the men. After they'd ordered conversation flowed around what each had been doing since they'd met last. Katniss mentioned her sister's upcoming graduation and that started her and Gale reminiscing over old times with Peeta eagerly asking questions.

Gale and Katniss were debating some old disagreement when the server arrived with their food. He was looking confused so Madge took pity on him and reminded him of who had ordered what.

"Thanks darling." He grinned at her. "Let me know if you need anything, and I mean anything." He winked and departed.

Madge blinked at his retreating form. Had this guy just flirted with her, after hitting on her friend not 30 minutes ago? How dense did he think she was? She heard a snort and looked over to see Peeta and Katniss barely containing their laughter while Gale glared daggers at the man.

"Next time, I'm wearing pajamas. Hopefully that will protect me from guys like him."

"I don't know Madge," Katniss grinned, "He seems the type to like My Little Pony pjs."

They joked a bit more then dug into their food. When they got their checks however the waiter mentioned that he'd split it four ways "since they didn't seem to be couples".

Gale took the billfold and opened it up, then sat staring at its contents.

"Gale, you going to pass those out anytime soon?" Peeta asked.

He looked up, glaring. "Peeta, you pay for Katniss and I'll pay for Madge."

Katniss and Madge both started protesting but he waved them off. "We invited you two out. We'll pay." He scribbled something on one of the receipts and added his credit card before passing the whole thing to Peeta. Peeta added his card but apparently felt the need to look through the receipts and flipped through them, then began laughing.

"What?" Madge asked.

Gale turned his glare on Peeta again. "Just give the stuff back to me. You don't need to show them.

"Oh, I think I do, this is just to good not to share. I can't believe you wanted to keep it all to yourself."

Peeta pulled one of the receipts out of the pile and flipped it, backside up, onto the table between Madge and Katniss. On the back, written with curlicue lettering and hearts, was 'Hey, I know you just met me, but here's my number. Call me maybe?' followed by what was presumably the waiter's number and then two squares, one with yes written next to it the other no. In different handwriting was a new box, checked, with writing next to it: 'No way in H—'. Katniss snorted. Madge just looked at them all, completely astonished.

"Ahh, I don't know if this guy is for real or what."

"Well, he seems pretty creepy to me." Gale growled. "I don't think there's any point in him having any of your information. Now give it back to me so that we can pay the bill and get out of here."

"I think you should be thankful for this guy," Peeta chuckled, passing the receipt over. "He gave you the chance to rescue Madge from the evil doers of the world."

Gale glared at Peeta again, Madge did not know how Peeta survived the constant glares he seemed to receive. One must get immune to them, she decided.

"You wouldn't find it so funny if he'd given Katniss his number," Gale retorted, then glanced quickly at Madge as if he'd just let something secret slip.

Katniss and Peeta snickered again but Madge just looked confusedly at them. She turned to Gale, "I don't know what they're giggling about, but I'll thank you." She shivered. "I think I might not ever leave my apartment again."


	11. Visits-Leaving

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Hunger Games or any other books/movies/ects mentioned.

* * *

It happened that Madge was forced to leave her apartment again the next time Gale and Peeta came to visit. Granted, she hadn't been a hermit the entire time. She'd just didn't like going out to places where a good amount of talking was required. She favored staying in and reading her books or going on bike rides and taking in nature.

It was about half a year later and Madge had noticed that Katniss had been up later at nights, chatting with someone. Unless Madge was completely blind, those chats were taking place online and she had a sneaking suspicion the person on the other end was Peeta. That's why when Katniss asked Madge to come out to dinner with the two men again she agreed. Madge wasn't a gossip, she just liked to know what was going on.

Dinner itself went fine. Gale seemed on much better behavior towards Madge, in fact it seemed like he was trying to be pleasant! She surreptitiously watched Katniss and Peeta but didn't notice them acting any differently from usual. After dinner however, Katniss suggested they go back to the girl's apartment and continue chatting.

Once they arrived, Madge started bustling around making coffee and tea and bringing out cookies while the others chatted in the living room. Once she brought everything out and sat down Katniss glanced at Peeta.

He nodded and she took a big breath. "I've decided to move to Seattle."

"What!" Gale and Madge exclaimed.

"Well I've been looking for a new job. In my current one I'm stuck in a dead end and don't have the level of leadership I'd like. I never really planned on staying here forever, so I widened my search area. I got this really great offer there, so I decided to take it." Katniss detailed, looking at Madge nervously.

Madge glared back at her. "You just decided to tell me now? I didn't even know you were looking for a job!"

She whipped around to look at Peeta. "This is your fault isn't it? Katniss' great offer better not be Mellark housewife."

Suddenly her glare dissolved into tears. She couldn't really tell since she immediately covered her face with her hands, but she was pretty sure everyone was staring at her, astonishment on their faces. She couldn't believe she'd started crying in front of everyone but now she couldn't stop. She squeaked, "I'm sorry," and got up and ran to the safety of her room, pulling the door closed behind her.

After a few minutes she felt her bed dip down next to her and found herself being pulled into a warm embrace. One hand slowly moved up and down her back and she heard a voice murmuring calming noises in her ear. As her sobs quieted to occasional sniffles, she pulled back to see her comforter.

Gale peered down at her, concern etched on his face. His steel eyes examined her face for signs of a relapse into tears. "You feeling better now?"

She nodded and sighed. "Thanks." She glanced at him, curious and embarrassed. "How did you become delegated to comfort the crazy girl? It seems like you're making rescuing me a trend."

He grinned, "Well, they decided that since I'm used to dealing with my little sister Posy when she gets upset that I might be the best suited. Also, Peeta's busy trying convincing Katniss she should still move and that he's not going to lock her in the kitchen with various meal making demands when she arrives." The grin left his face. "In all seriousness though, I figured that I could somewhat relate to how you feel. After all I was pretty upset when Katniss moved away for college. I'd always assumed we'd go to the same place but then she moved and met you and I heard about all the great times you two were having. I was pretty jealous of you before we met Madge. That's probably why I have a tendency to act like a jerk around you. It started off with me venting my anger that Katniss had moved away. Then I just didn't know how to act differently around you and you were already constantly on your guard. I just couldn't say and do the right things, something always got botched. So basically I'm suggesting you don't go 'Hawthorne' on Peeta just because he stole Katniss away."

"Hey," Madge leaned back into Gale's embrace and giving him a hug, "It's okay. I'm glad you're getting her back now and I forgive you for all those comments. I could have tried harder to be friendly with you, I'm just not the most sociable person. No worries on the Peeta front though, I think I'd have to train for years before I could get anywhere close to your brooding stare of displeasure."

"Well, I'd offer to teach you, but I don't want to inflict the result on the world. It may not survive my stare coupled with the aura of righteousness that you exude." Gale teased.

He gave her another squeeze then stood up, pulling her with him. "If you're feeling better, let's go give the two love birds a hard time for springing this on us so suddenly."

She smiled at him. This was a side of Gale Hawthorne she didn't think she'd ever seen before, a teasing and kind side. She liked it quite a bit. The realization then hit her that this was probably the last time she'd see him. With Katniss gone, they had no reason to meet up. She gripped his hand, not yet ready to lose contact with him. "Yes let's. I think we could make quite a team working together.


	12. Visits-Sick

Disclaimer: Hunger Games characters do not belong to me. I just borrow them every once in a while.

* * *

Madge felt horrible. Her throat was sore, her nose was stuffed, and her ears hurt. Apparently the cold she'd developed a week ago wasn't satisfied with restricting itself to the usual symptoms and had also given her an ear infection. She was glad that it was finally Friday and she could just stay in bed all day.

Madge had just settled down on her couch, hot tea and tissues close at hand, with a book when her cell phone started ringing. She looked over and saw an unrecognized number displayed on the screen. Madge had a strict rule with incoming cell phone calls. If she didn't recognize the number, she didn't answer. She let the phone ring out then went back to reading her book. About half an hour later, the phone rang again. It was the same number, Madge considered picking up then thought better of it. If this person really wanted to talk to her they'd leave a voicemail. As if hearing her thoughts the phone rang out and then a minute later gave its usual voicemail buzz. Madge picked it up, curious, and dialed in her passcode.

"Hey Madge, this is Gale. I'm in town until tomorrow morning and I just finished up my business. I know we've never hung out just the two of us before but I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tonight and maybe catch a movie. Oh, and Katniss gave me your number, I'm not some creeper. I'll try again in a few minutes, ah, bye." The message crackled to an end, with Gale finishing off sounding tentative.

Madge was still staring at her phone in confusion about a minute later when it started ringing again. Hesitantly, she answered.

"Hi."

"Madge?"

"Yes, this is she."

She could hear Gale clear his throat. "So, I take it you listened to my message. Are you interested in dinner? My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow morning but I finished all my meetings today so I'm free tonight. I figured we could catch up, or something," he finished off hurriedly.

Madge sniffled, "I'm sorry Gale but I don't think I can tonight."

Their last interaction had gone well but Madge didn't think that was enough to explain a call and meal invite from Gale Hawthorne. It was probably just a pity call, Madge had recently been bemoaning to Katniss how little friends she had. Either way, she was pretty sure Gale didn't want to be hanging out with a girl who had fluids coming out of multiple orifices on her face.

"Oh, okay. Well maybe next time then." Madge really wished they were conversing face to face. It was so hard to read people over the phone, not that she'd ever been a pro at reading Gale face to face. He sounded disappointed though, maybe he had really wanted to hang out.

"Wait, Gale." She said, hoping she caught him before he hung up. "It's not that I don't want to. I've had this horrible cold all week and I don't really feel up to going out. I'm probably a biohazard anyways," she tried to joke.

"Do you need anything?" The concern was evident in Gale's voice, "Katniss said you live on your own now. I could pick medicine or food up for you."

Madge's heart swelled, her emotions always got more intense when she was sick, and her eyes started to tear up. She'd forgotten how nice it was to have someone to care for you. Trying to keep her voice calm, she answered, "No, that's alright Gale. I have everything I need: drugs, tissues, and books to keep me from boredom. Thank you for offering."

"Okay," he didn't sound convinced. "Well you can call me if you need something. I'll talk to you later Madge."

"Bye." She heard the line go dead. Bringing the phone down from her ear she looked at it. Had Gale Hawthorne actually called her and then offered to buy her supplies? Madge felt like she was hallucinating. She quickly saved his number under her contacts, then somewhat regretfully settled back down to her book.

She must have dozed off because she was startled awake by a knock on her door. Grumbling and head throbbing, Madge pulled the blankets off and stomped to the door. This better not be her neighbor trying to hit on her again. Honestly, no one actually asked their neighbor for a cup of sugar.

"What?" she croaked as she yanked open her door. Her mouth then dropped open in amazement.

Gale stood there with a grin on his face. "Is that how you great your visitors Undersee? I even brought gifts." He said, hefting the two grocery bags he was holding.

Mouth still open, she moved to the side and let Gale pass into her apartment. He confidently made his way through her living room into the adjoining kitchen. Placing the bags on one of the kitchen counters he began to unload them.

"I figured since you are the only friend I have in this city I wasn't going to let sickness get in the way of my visiting. Not that I wouldn't have come by even if I had other friends," he added hurriedly, glancing at her to see if she'd been offended.

By now Madge had regained enough of her senses to close the door and wander into the kitchen. She watched as he unpacked a variety of vegetables, chicken, noodles, and ginger ale.

"Also," Gale added, "my mom taught me how to make the best chicken noodle soup and I've taken care of my siblings when they were sick plenty of times. I felt I was just the man for the job of curing you."

Madge blinked at him. She really couldn't handle 'nice Gale' when her mind was dulled with medicine and sickness. "But," she began to protest weakly.

"No buts, just show me where your cutting board is, a knife and a big pot. Then it's back to the couch for you."

Madge pointed out the requisite objects then submitted as Gale pushed her back to the couch, set her down and tucked the blankets around her. She watched him for a while, moving around her kitchen. He fit there too well she decided, she should see if they sold robots like him at Ikea. A Gale Hawthorne for her kitchen was just what she needed.

She must have drifted off to sleep again because she woke up to Gale shaking her. "You'd better wake up princess. I worked myself to the bone making you this soup. And," he added, looking especially proud of himself, "I managed to hook my computer up to your TV so we can watch something online and I have just the thing! Have you seen Jericho?"

Madge groaned. "Are you sure you and Katniss aren't related? She forced me to watch it when we started rooming together."

Gale grinned. "Great minds think alike. Well I don't see any problem with watching it again." He peered at her, suddenly looking concerned. "You liked it didn't you? Because if you didn't, I don't think I can share this delicious soup with you."

She gaped at him. With how he was acting, it was like he was the one on cough medicine. "It was good. I just get annoyed that the sexy blonde who always needs saving also always gets the tall dark hero with the troubled past. I'm much more a Heather, the nerdy girl never gets the guy even though she's constantly helping him out." She giggled at his look of consternation. "Don't worry. I can put aside my dislike of the romances to enjoy the rest for the piece of art it is," she teased.

"I think you deserve more than a guy whose past haunts him but, I also think you deserve a hero. You never know," he added, "what would have happened if they hadn't canceled the show. Maybe he just needed more time to get his head straight and see what was right there in front of him."

They watched one another for a few moments, Gale still standing and towering above her, until Madge could no longer stand the intensity of his gaze. There was some other meaning in his words, she felt, but Madge had never been good at understanding the subliminal messages. She looked at the two bowls of soup sitting on her coffee table.

"Well, let's start eating before the soup gets cold. There's a chair in my room you can bring out to sit on."

"Nah," Gale handed her a bowl of soup then lifted her feet up and set himself down on her couch, "I'm fine right here". After positioning her feet across his lap, he leaned over and started the first episode of Jericho playing before grabbing his own bowl.

She must have drifted off sometime after the third episode because she woke up when her feet start moving on their own accord.

"Shh, go back to sleep Madge." Gale shushed, pulling the blankets back over her feet. "It's early morning but I have to head out to the airport now or I'll miss my flight."

She nodded groggily and settled down to sleep again. She stayed awake long enough to feel his lips pressed to her forehead and hear her front door click shut. Madge woke up a few hours later and saw a sheet of paper on her coffee table.

_ Madge,_

_I hope you feel better soon. I'll be back in about two months and I'm hoping we can do more that watch TV shows when I visit then. Maybe you can show me some of your favorite sights. My company is thinking about settling me down in one permanent spot, so I've got to gather some more information in order to make an informed decision about the best place for me. In the meantime, you'd better answer the emails I'm planning on sending you. I want to know your opinion on some other cult classic TV shows. _

_ -Gale_

_P.S.: You might want to text me your email address. Otherwise I'll be a creep again and ask Katniss._

* * *

Author's Note: This is longer than I planned it to be. I'm planning on just one more chapter to this long-shot, then it's back to one-shots for me :)


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